I can still remember the early days of MTV - you know, back when the "M" stood for "music" and they actually played "music" videos. My introduction to Graham Bonnet came via one of those videos. My initial reaction was "wow, check out this guy with short hair. That's different." Then I heard him sing. Wow! Talk about a voice. It was one of those voices that could go from "Phil and Don Everly" to super-sonic blow torch mode in the wink of an eye.
Graham Bonnet in Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
In the late 70s Graham Bonnet was the unlikely successor to the mighty Ronnie James Dio in Rainbow. I can only imagine what Rainbow fans thought when they saw Dio being replaced by "James Dean." Bonnet was definitely a departure from Dio's "Dungeons and Dragons" style but, like the diminutive Mr. Dio, Bonnet had (and still has) one of the most powerful voices in rock. His tenure with the famously moody Ritchie Blackmore was short - spawning only one album, "Down to Earth." The story goes that Blackmore wanted to take the post-Dio Rainbow in a more commercial direction, and with Bonnet on board they did just that. "Down to Earth" produced two hit singles for the group, "Since You've Been Gone" and "All Night Long", and landed the group headlining status at the first Monsters of Rock concert in 1980.
Graham Bonnet's winding up in Rainbow seems to have been something of a fluke as the singer wasn't even familiar with the group or any of its material at the time he joined. Bonnet wasn't even a big fan of hard rock music. He first splashed onto the music scene in the late 60's as part of the pop duo The Marbles who had a modest hit with "Only One Woman". He had also had success in Europe and Australia pursuing a more folksy or R&B course. But Blackmore had been intrigued with Bonnet's vocal talent since his work with The Marbles and pursued him once Dio decided to leave Rainbow.
Graham Bonnet Joins MSG
Having received his heavy metal initiation in Rainbow, Bonnet seemed destined to rock, at least for the foreseeable future. After a quick solo album supported by a few of his Rainbow bandmates, 1981's "Line Up", Bonnet found himself in the company of another talented yet slightly erratic guitarist, Michael Schenker. This relationship resulted in the excellent "Assault Attack" album by MSG in 1982. (For my money, probably some of Bonnet's and Schenker's best work.) But this gig would be short lived also.
Alcatrazz
Bonnet's next project would be Alcatrazz, a melodic hard rock outfit in the vein of Rainbow featuring an up and coming Swedish guitar virtuoso named Yngwie Malmsteen. "No Parole From Rock and Roll" was released in 1984 and, seriously, for pure over the top guitar and vocal heroics this album is hard to beat. This was ultimately the launching pad for Malmsteen's solo career but the album and videos also cemented Bonnet's status as one of hard rock's most distinctive vocalists.
Malmsteen left Alcatrazz before the band's second album, 1985's "Disturbing the Peace". But his shoes were more than adequately filled by ex-Zappa guitarist Steve Vai. Again, this new pairing with another great guitarist yielded awesome results. Bonnet smokes throughout this album and, frankly, it's a shame DTP didn't get more notice. Like Malmsteen, Vai left the band for other opportunities - in this instance to join the much talked about David Lee Roth band.
In 1986 Bonnet and company cut a third Alcatrazz album, "Dangerous Games" which yielded some interesting material but was not as strong as either of the first two offerings. Since then Graham Bonnet has been something of a journeyman, working with a variety of groups and projects around the world. Over the past few years he has been revisiting his Alcatrazz past with a new version of the band.
Graham Bonnet the Song Writer
Bonnet has gotten some flack about his song-writing ability. Maybe some of that is deserved. "Dancer" is often cited as being a bit lame - and maybe it is, but I find most of his lyrics solid. What impresses me is the broad range of his lyrical subject matter. During his tenure with Alcatrazz alone he penned songs about Bigfoot, UFO's, nuclear bombs, James Dean, ancient South American tribes and his grandfather! And let's not forgot two of his best songs from his stint in MSG - "Samurai" and "Desert Song". Bonnet was pretty daring in his songwriting - obviously, some ideas worked out better than others, but I find his efforts very refreshing compared to your standard hard rock fare.
Graham Bonnet: Unsung Hero
Graham Bonnet is a true original. It's somewhat ironic that in a genre like hard rock that prides itself on being non-conformist or even anti-establishment that so many of the performers sound and look the same. One of the things that sticks out about Bonnet is the fact that he is always Graham Bonnet. He has the short hair, the aviator glasses, the bright colored suits - he is pretty much the anti-rock and roller. And regardless of the cast of revolving musicians around him, he always owns the spotlight. One gets the impression that Graham Bonnet could (and probably does) sing any type of music well. Yet he has a persona that comes across as a lot of fun, never seeming to take himself too serious. He is truly one of rock's all-time great vocalists and deserves much more recognition than he's received.
You can visit Graham Bonnet's website for more information.
Jeremy Lunnen - Jeremy Lunnen is a 44 year old MBA and father of seven whose "grown up" job is as a corporate leadership trainer. His love affair with ...
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